Seaborne Freight

Debate between Lord Grayling and Luciana Berger

Tuesday 8th January 2019 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

I am very happy to reiterate that. It is a responsible approach to a new contract with a new business that we will pay when the business delivers. It is disappointing to hear that the Labour party is so opposed to the regeneration of the port of Ramsgate. It was not so long ago that the Labour party represented Ramsgate in Parliament but, given this negative attitude, it does not deserve ever to do so again.

[Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab/Co-op)]

One of the directors of Seaborne Freight has been named by the Financial Times as Brian Raincock, whose previous company went into liquidation in April 2017 owing £585,000 to its main creditor, HMRC, which is essentially the British taxpayer. Is the Secretary of State content that this excruciating fact apparently did not come up during his Department’s due diligence on Seaborne Freight before it awarded the contract? Whether or not Seaborne Freight delivers the ships, it has still been awarded a £14 million contract, so hon. Members on both sides of the House rightly have an issue with the Secretary of State and his response today.

[Chris Grayling]

I keep telling the hon. Lady that the £14 million will not be paid unless Seaborne Freight delivers a service. I will not comment on the tax affairs of an individual, and nor should she. The due diligence on all those participating in the company found no reason why they are unfit to do business with the Government.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Grayling and Luciana Berger

Thursday 11th October 2018 Commons Chamber

[Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab/ Co-op)]

T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

[The Secretary of State for Transport (Chris Grayling)]

It might be helpful if I inform the House that High Speed 2 is today publishing its environmental statement for phase 2b, which is the northern leg from Crewe to Manchester and through the east midlands to Leeds. It will be available in the Library. The route will clearly have an impact on many people, and I have instructed HS2 to treat people with as much decency as possible at what is a difficult time for them. If there are examples of where that is not happening, I want to hear about it, as does the Under-Secretary of State for Transport, my hon. Friend the Member for Wealden (Ms Ghani). I would encourage Members to come and see us about that.

[Luciana Berger]

The northern powerhouse Minister was in my constituency last week to see the new Northern trains. During his visit, he said that passengers would be delighted that they have air-conditioned trains with wi-fi and charging points. New trains are welcome, but what my constituents need more than anything is reliable services that run on time. A recent Liverpool Echo poll showed that 52% of readers said that they would have to find another way to travel if services remain as unreliable as they have been since the timetable changes. There is still a very serious problem, so what steps will the Secretary of State take to resolve the rail disruption caused by the introduction of revised timetables since May?

[Chris Grayling]

As the hon. Lady will be aware, Northern rail’s performance has improved markedly since the difficult days in June and July. It is now running more services than it did prior to the timetable change. As for what we will do, we will replace every train with a newer and more reliable train, and we will get rid of all the old Pacer trains that run into and out of Liverpool which, frankly, should have gone to the scrapyard years ago. I hope that she will welcome the investment we have put into Liverpool Lime Street station. I am going there next week to see the long overdue work that has been done to upgrade that station.

Rail Timetabling

Debate between Lord Grayling and Luciana Berger

Monday 4th June 2018 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

I assure my hon. Friend that I am sufficiently angry at what has happened that anyone who has found to be negligent in this matter should not carry on in the job they are doing now. It is simply not acceptable to have a situation in which people are in operational control of something and completely fail to deliver. The whole point of setting up an independent review is to understand exactly what has gone wrong so that lessons can be learned.

[Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab/Co-op)]

Two months before the changes, back in March, I asked the Secretary of State in a written question what steps he and his Department had taken to ensure that there was both adequate track capacity and adequate train numbers to support the proposed rail timetable change in the north-west, because my constituents knew then that there would be a problem. A junior Minister told me in a reply that it was the responsibility of the train operating company to support the proposed timetable changes—nothing to do with his Department. I have constituents who are standing in sweltering heat for five hours, some of whom are fasting for Ramadan—and that is if they can get a train at all. It is an absolute disgrace. What will the Secretary of State do to make it right today?

[Chris Grayling]

The answer to the hon. Lady’s question is that a temporary timetable is being put in place on Northern that should stabilise the timetable this week, and then, step by step, it will start to put back in place the extra services that were promised post May.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Grayling and Luciana Berger

Thursday 15th September 2016 Commons Chamber

[Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab/Co-op)]

11. What assessment he has made of the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed High Speed 2 route.

[The Secretary of State for Transport (Chris Grayling)]

To be absolutely clear, the Government are firmly committed to HS2, which will become the backbone of our national rail network and help us to build an economy that works for everyone. I have spent a lot of time this summer looking at the full extent of the route, so I fully understand all the issues around it.

[Luciana Berger]

In Liverpool, there are many concerns that we will not be properly connected to HS2, which will be challenging not only for passengers, but for transporting the freight that comes into the new super-port; that will throw into question the notion of a genuine northern powerhouse. Will the Secretary of State please confirm that the provision of a junction allowing a future line to Liverpool from the Golborne link of HS2 will be announced in the autumn statement?

[Chris Grayling]

I cannot pre-announce the autumn statement, but I can say this: the hon. Lady knows that I am a regular visitor to Liverpool—I was there during the summer—and I am well aware of the transport challenges around the city. I am also proud that we are spending something like £350 million today on rail improvements. We need to make sure that Liverpool is well served in future.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Grayling and Luciana Berger

Thursday 4th June 2015 Commons Chamber

[Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab/Co-op)]

7. What recent guidance he has given to ministerial colleagues on making statements to the House before they are made to the media.

[The Leader of the House of Commons (Chris Grayling)]

The ministerial code is clear: when Parliament is in session, the most important announcements of Government policy should be made in the first instance to Parliament. I have reminded my Cabinet colleagues of that.

--- Later in debate ---

[Chris Grayling]

Again, with respect to the hon. Lady, all these measures were in our manifesto. Our first Session is about enacting that manifesto, on which we were elected. If she wants to find out more about our plans, she just has to read that document.

[Luciana Berger]

I heard what the Leader of the House said about statements that might have been made before this House was in session, but it was on Monday that the Prime Minister announced details of the Government’s Childcare Bill not to this House but to the media. Does the Leader of the House agree that the Prime Minister was wrong to do so?

[Chris Grayling]

That was not a fresh announcement; we set out our plans for childcare weeks and weeks and weeks ago. Simply to repeat things that we have announced weeks ago seems to me to be entirely normal.

Business of the House

Debate between Lord Grayling and Luciana Berger

Thursday 4th June 2015 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

One of the many reasons why I am delighted that we now have a Conservative Government, not a Conservative Government with Lib Dems attached, is the issue of onshore wind farms, which, in my view, has to be handled with the utmost care. I know that the new Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change is looking at this matter carefully. I will ensure that my hon. Friend’s concerns are drawn to her attention, and I expect her to bring forward a new approach at an early opportunity.

[Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab/Co-op)]

Further to the question from my right hon. Friend the Member for Leicester East (Keith Vaz), I and many other Members have in recent weeks received urgent pleas for help from British nationals stranded in Yemen. I wrote to the Foreign Secretary about the matter in April and was informed that there were no plans to evacuate British nationals from the country. It is heartbreaking to have to reply to these cries for help with such a response. May we please have an urgent statement about what more the Government can do to ensure the safe return of British nationals stranded in Yemen and neighbouring countries, such as Djibouti, Saudi Arabia and Oman, as the situation remains extremely volatile?

[Chris Grayling]

I hear what the hon. Lady says, and I will ensure that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is aware of the concerns raised today. Ministers will be before the House on Tuesday, when I would encourage her to raise the issue with them directly.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Grayling and Luciana Berger

Tuesday 8th October 2013 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

I can give that assurance to my hon. Friend. We are looking across the legal aid and legal services world at ways to improve cash flows, where appropriate by providing interim payments to barristers and solicitors, and we have invited ideas from all parts of the profession on how best to do that. Even if we have to take tough overall financial decisions, I am keen to ensure that we ease cash flow challenges, which are a regular complaint from lawyers.

[Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab/Co-op)]

Given the large number of local black, Asian and minority ethnic legal firms, including in Liverpool, why has no equality impact assessment been undertaken on the Government’s plans for legal aid?

[Chris Grayling]

We have done equality work, and the changes announced in September will mean that there should be no reason for any BAME specialist firm to have to change what it does.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Grayling and Luciana Berger

Tuesday 21st May 2013 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

Given that I do not have the time at the Dispatch Box that I might choose to discuss the matter, I would simply say that the European Commission’s recent decision to publish a justice scorecard assessing justice systems across Europe, and making recommendations for their improvement, is one that this country neither welcomes nor intends to co-operate with.

[Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab/Co-op)]

What assessment has the Secretary of State made of the impact on miscarriages of justice of his proposals on criminal legal aid?

[Chris Grayling]

I am very confident that what we are doing, which involves encouraging the litigation part of our system to operate more efficiently and making changes to the top end of the income scale for the Bar, but also protecting incomes for the junior Bar, will be the best way of delivering an effective balance between proper justice and something that is affordable to the taxpayer.

Transforming Rehabilitation

Debate between Lord Grayling and Luciana Berger

Wednesday 9th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

We will do everything we can to do that. The Under-Secretary of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Kenilworth and Southam, is looking very hard at the whole issue of how we manage drugs in prisons and the nature of such rehabilitation. As a result of these reforms, I hope that we will end up not only dealing with the question of retoxification but identifying problems, starting rehab in prison and continuing it post-prison, and getting prisoners off drugs altogether.

[Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab/Co-op)]

Some parallels have been drawn between this plan and the Work programme. One of the problems with the Work programme is that minimal information is available from some of the private providers, and they are not subject to freedom of information requests. How will this be different?

[Chris Grayling]

I am working on reforms to FOI at the moment. We will try to be as transparent as possible. The hon. Lady has to remember, although she is not guilty of this, that over the past couple of years I have been regularly attacked by Labour Members about the use of national statistics. They cannot have it both ways. They cannot demand the information in advance and then want me to conform to national statistics rules. We will publish data as soon as we are able to do so, under the guidance of our statisticians, and we will be as transparent as possible over all this.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Grayling and Luciana Berger

Tuesday 18th September 2012 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

There is an ongoing programme to rationalise the estate across the MOJ, as there is across Government. We should always look to maximise the utilisation of public sector office space, and we will continue to do so.

[Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab/Co-op)]

Will the Secretary of State shed more light on reports in the press today that the Government are seeking to change the definition of domestic violence?

[Chris Grayling]

That matter is being dealt with by the Home Office and the Government Equalities Office. We are continuing to review it. We regard domestic violence as a particularly serious offence. It does untold damage to the lives of women. The Government will continue to work to find ways of reducing the likelihood of people suffering from domestic violence.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Grayling and Luciana Berger

Monday 28th November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

My hon. Friend is right. It is of paramount importance that our higher and further education systems are as focused as possible on delivering the right skills for young people. The partnership that now exists between the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, which is responsible for these areas, and ourselves is unprecedented, and it is making a real difference.

[Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab/Co-op)]

T5. I was appalled to hear the sort of advice that jobcentre staff had given to a Master’s graduate in Liverpool. She was told to stop claiming her jobseeker’s allowance and, instead, to carry out an unpaid internship. Does the Minister of State think that that is morally correct? If he does not, what will he do about it?

[Chris Grayling]

I obviously cannot comment on that specific case, but what I can say is that anyone who is going through a work experience placement can continue to draw their benefits. That is the big difference that we made. Under the previous Government, somebody who was offered a work experience place was forced to lose their benefits.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Grayling and Luciana Berger

Monday 13th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

I am very grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his comments. I do accept that there is a challenge in placing some people into work, which is why we have created a differential pricing structure to reflect the challenge of getting them into the workplace. The problem with the future jobs fund was the cost relative even to the outcome costs of other programmes run by the previous Government. Of course, in straitened financial times we have to seek not only what works in employment terms but what is affordable.

[Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab/Co-op)]

Will the Government reinstate Labour’s jobs guarantee to ensure that young people are offered a job or training place after six months out of work?

[Chris Grayling]

What the hon. Lady does not understand is that Governments do not create jobs. Governments have to create an environment in which jobs are created by the private sector. Our job is to ensure that unemployed people are in the best possible position to take advantage of jobs when they are created by employers. It has been encouraging over the past few months to see the private sector creating far more full-time jobs, and I hope that that continues.